Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2440 Waves ([-])

"Mr. Scaloni, tell me what you know." In an ordinary villa in Madrid, Sir William Temple from England sat upright, looking at the gloomy middle-aged man in front of him, and said.

"Sir, the people on the east coast of Eagle's Nest Fortress once made emergency mobilization measures, but they were quickly lifted. In the past month, they and more than 1 Italian troops nearby have been mobilizing for inspections, but There are no exercises. I don't think they are fully prepared for war, nor are they ready to go to war anytime soon," Scaloni said.

This gentleman is an Italian, born in Turin, went to Genoa with his father to do business in his youth, and made a living as a business broker after he failed.Scaloni was shrewd, cautious, observant, and able to analyze and reason, so he was quickly developed into a spy by the British to collect intelligence for London.Later, because of his excellent business ability, he gradually climbed to the top of England's intelligence network in northern Italy, and he was considered a figure.

It has been two months since the death of King Carlos II of Spain.In the past period of time, envoys from various countries gathered in Madrid, causing waves of diplomacy in private.Various interests are exchanged here, and various promises are made here. The French, English, Austrians, and Dutch are busy running around, constantly testing each other's asking price and bottom line. The people from the east coast who watched coldly from the sidelines were eye-opening—none of these well-dressed birdmen were telling the truth, except for lies, they were still lies.

Scaloni has been "doing business" in the small town of Campomorone for the past year, and his main task is to monitor the movements of the East Coast Army in the Eagle's Nest Fortress and pass them on to relevant personnel in London.This time, the veteran Sir William Temple came to Madrid for diplomatic work, and he also took the risk to summon the gentleman from Italy to ask for first-hand information.

"I heard that people from the east coast invested in the construction of an arsenal in the small town of Campo Morone. How is the current situation?" Sir Temple continued to ask.

"Sir, the scale of this arsenal is not large. In fact, it can only deploy some gunpowder, plus process bullets and shells. There are factories like this all over Europe. According to my observations, in the recent period, people on the east coast Except for the transport of a few machine tools, there is no other movement. The factory has a gas lighting system, but it does not work at night, and the production rhythm seems to be normal." Scaloni replied.

Sir William Temple nodded after hearing this, but he was not much relieved in his heart.Although he is very old, his mind is not conservative. On the contrary, he is very concerned about new things and knows a lot.For example, in the past two years, he has paid special attention to the all-steam steamship developed by the people on the east coast.In his opinion, this kind of large ship that can be built to [-] tons or [-] tons is fast and has a profound impact on the transportation of the entire world.

As he once said in a speech to Congress: "Steam steamers have greatly shortened the distance between countries and produced revolutionary changes. Before that, no country could transport tens of thousands of troops across half the world to another country." One place, but after the conditions changed, everything was different, and everything became possible. If the people on the east coast can have a steamship fleet of 3 tons, as long as they are willing to pay a huge price, they can transport [-] tons at a time An army of more than [-] men can be brought to Europe without much loss. It is true that all people want peace, but in any case, no nation dares to forget that the time of storm may occur. I am restless day and night for this, and I beg you Stay alert."

Sir William Temple was not sure how many steamers the East Coasters had now.But according to his guess, tens of thousands of transport tonnages are still available, which is enough for them to do many things.What's more, according to various clues, they have made arrangements several years in advance and transported a large number of people to Europe and nearby areas in batches.There is no doubt that this will cost a lot, because if you want your personnel to endure the suffering of being away all the year round, then you have to pay a high enough salary; It is much higher; you have to purchase a large amount of supplies in foreign countries, and the cost will even be more than double that of the local; you have to build warehouses, hospitals, factories, entertainment facilities outside...

But the above difficulties may not be a big deal in front of people from the east coast!Strong-willed, purposeful, and above all deep-pocketed, they seem to be able to afford such a move.Not to mention, they still have a lot of dog legs in Europe paying for them, which can reduce the cost considerably.In short, people from the east coast cannot be underestimated, not at all!

"I heard that people from the east coast have recently sent an envoy to Genoa, Milan and Venice to promote some very bad things. Is this true?" After a moment of silence, Sir William Temple continued asked.

"There is such a thing." Scaloni replied immediately: "That is an arrogant young man who seems to be of noble origin, and often speaks some very outrageous things. According to the public information I have collected, he hates the French very much. , and is not very friendly to the Austrians. Well, what he did is probably just to arouse the goodwill of Italian public opinion, to strengthen and inspire the nobles and merchants of the Northern Italian Federation, and make them actively prepare for expansion. This person also Very clever, he was not content merely to study the tendencies of public opinion, but liked to incite them, and to a certain extent guide them. He often gave long speeches in the salons, talking at length about how the French and the Austrians made things difficult for Italy, How to blackmail them often, and talk about the influence of the East Coast people in Europe, the strength of the East Coast navy and army, and future action plans. He personally admitted that if foreign armed forces interfere in the internal affairs of the Italian people, the East Coast people will definitely intervene in the war , unavoidable. He also prophesied that the East Coast Navy would blockade the enemy's ports, paralyze their trade, the merchants would be distressed, and the government's resources dried up. All his conversations were of a secretive nature, but they were spoken openly, There were also some very crude criticisms, both of the French and of the Austrians, and even of his own more moderate and cautious colleagues. These criticisms are not for publication, the Italian journalists He was not allowed to say these things in his name, otherwise he would have come out to deny them. But they got out, they got out in newspapers, salons, clubs and financial institutions, and a lot of people knew about them."

"Well, I've heard some too. Some of it is so extreme and so repeated that people don't think it means much," interposed Sir William Temple.

"Perhaps this is exactly the effect he wanted." Scaloni chuckled and said, "Even though he denied it everywhere, newspapers in northern Italy still published a large number of his remarks, and even spread to neighboring countries. As a result Even a farmer in northern Italy believed that the people on the east bank sympathized with them and would help them at critical moments, and public opinion was full of passionate emotions. In Paris and Vienna, the nobles saw his statement clarifying his remarks over and over again, They think that the East Coast government is not hostile to them, and the bilateral trade relationship can still continue. But they may also subconsciously think in their hearts, if they really send troops to invade Italy, will it really lead to serious consequences? As long as they think so Yes, this guy's goal has been achieved. However, sir, I also really doubt that this guy is a war madman. Maybe he is also using this method to force his superiors or reckless soldiers to participate and speed up the situation. After all, the people on the east coast have troops stationed in Genoa, and those officers can easily tell that the Italians are angry, eager to start a war, and love and support the east coast as long as they read the newspapers. in conclusion."

"This is just speculation, and further evidence is needed." Sir Temple said noncommittally: "But there must be different factions within the East Coast government. Just like most countries in the world, some people want war, some want peace, and some want peace. It's normal not to get involved in conflict so quickly, some people want to fight tomorrow."

"It seems that the people on the east coast are actually very concerned about Italy, perhaps too much." Sir William Temple concluded: "What is their purpose? Don't they really plan to intervene in the European continent? War? Unless someone attacks Italy and annoys them? What does the Northern Italian Federation think? Unify the entire Italian peninsula? It seems that they do not have the strength, and other countries will not allow it, and the Papal State is even more negative about it manner."

Sir William Temple is really having a headache now.He felt that the situation in front of him was complicated, and the forces of all parties were intertwined, talking sweet words that he didn't believe, and signing various agreements that could be thrown into the trash at any time.Each side is doing everything it can to win allies and persuade competitors not to easily get involved in the war, although they themselves are already sharpening their swords.

As a powerful force that has been widely recognized by Europeans, the movement of the Eastern China Republic has always been a matter of great concern to Sir Temple.The reason is actually very simple. People on the east coast have a strong navy, and England is an island country, so we have to pay attention.

Sir William Temple had thought that the East Coasters would soon intervene in the mess before them, but their envoy Sheng, who had full powers, did not do so.He stayed on the outskirts of the storm in Madrid, watched the performances of the ambassadors of various countries with indifferent eyes, and only emphasized on a few minor occasions that the commercial interests of the East Coast Republic should not be damaged, and he did nothing else.

But Sir Temple did not dare to take this lightly.England's chips are limited and cannot be thrown easily.In case the crown of their Madrid finally falls to the Bourbon family, and they have to join the Austrian side to prevent the integration of the French on the European continent, at this time, the people on the east coast will collude with Louis XIV and form an alliance with France. Things were much worse for England.The navy they are proud of may not be a big deal in front of the people on the east coast. Once it suffers a devastating blow, England's chips will be almost lost, which is unacceptable to him.

"We must find out the attitude of the people on the east coast. Are they only interested in Italy and Spanish America, or do they have a greater appetite!" Sir William Temple thought: "Otherwise, the Kingdom of England will be unable to do so for a long time. Make a decision!"

(End of this chapter)